Men of Letters
by erised1186
Summary: Dean was not able to get to Henry in time and Henry found his way back to 1958. Will Henry be able to change history? Would Sam and Dean be born? The Men of Letters would never consider falling in love with a hunter and that's what the Campbell's were. AU story, beta reader needed.
1. Chapter 1

Men of Letters

He felt bad that he ignored Dean. He could of done the "right" thing but he got a glimpse of the future and it looked grim. There was hope yes. His grandsons Sam and Dean gave that to him. If there were monsters then he was certain they would be able to stop it. They were untrained though. They were not Men of Letters. Henry could not imagine a world without the Men of Letters and did not want his own son to live in a future without them. He was being selfish he knew that but maybe he was never supposed to go to the future to begin with. He will fix what he broke and he will make sure that John and Mary would be together so that Sam and Dean could be born. He didn't want his own son to grow up without a father. Life expectancy in this job was short. Not many old Men of Letter in the field are left. He wasn't naive anymore he was a Letter with experience and he was going to train his Johnny early incase he met another untimely demise.

Henry went back an hour early to take care of Abaddon. He gave the Men of Letters quite a scare as they thought he hadn't left yet. He explained what happened in the future and they went to work making devil traps. Abaddon wasn't expecting devils trap and was caught in it. Once he had her trapped he called upon the elder Men of Letters for assistance in her demise. She is a demon but holds a high rank. As a Knight of Hell a regular exorcism wouldn't kill her. At one point Abaddon blinded everyone in the room which caused a great panic but one of the Men of Letters named Anthony who was an older man (but not the oldest member) in his late 70s luckily seemed to know what to do. He was the most respected of the Men but he rarely spoke instead most of his advice came in written form. He simply got on his knees and prayed in latin. The Archangel Metatron appeared in his vessel form, the vessel turned out to be a young Ernie Banks. Metatron took out his sword and he stabbed her in the chest. The light went off and they where not sure what happened during this time but after she was killed Metatron used holy fire to destroy her remains. Once complete Metatron restored the eyesight to the people in the room. He did not speak during this time despite Abaddon attempts to get him to talk. Once the burning was complete he stared at Henry as if judging him. Then he shook Anthony's hand and disappeared. Henry was amazed at what he saw and wrote it down in his journal.

Henry drove home and went straight to John's room. He watched John while he slept the rest of the night and eventually fell asleep in the rocker that his own father built for him as baby shower gift. That's where his wife found him in the morning. "I love you," he said to her when she put her arms around him. Henry will never take his family for granted again.

* * *

It was Friday and he decided to take John to work with him. He had convinced his wife that he wanted to show him his work for the day. John was only four years old but he knew how to read. Both his grandmother and mother are teachers and have been reading to him since he was born. They didn't have a television so all of their free time was spent reading or playing outside. John was excited to go see his father at work little did he know he would not be able to sleep with the lights off.

"Ready to go?" Henry asked. "Yes, daddy will we be going to the garage?" John asked. He was wearing his best going to church clothes to impress his father's boss. "No I have another place to take you. A secret place that you must tell no one about." From that day on his father had instructed him on spells, demons and other mythical creatures. His bedtime stories with tales of heroes mixed with detailed instructions on how to deal with the creatures. They had fun as well. They went to ball games and traveled often. Henry made the decision to take a legacy grant from the Men of Letters to send John to a private school that had a primary focus on languages. John was fluent in Latin, Japanese, Spanish and Greek by the time he was 10.

* * *

Henry had a mission for the Men of Letters in Japan and took John with him when he was eleven. For the first trip he gave John a black leather journal with his initials JW engraved on the inside cover. The problem was that everyone in town was sick. They succeeded on their mission and were able to determine that the town was suffering from ghost sickness. They tracked the original legend and were able to salt and burn the bones.

While in Japan the Men of Letters sent a telegram to Henry to track down and recruit the illusive Bobby Singer he was about 18 at this point and was chasing the vanishing hitchhiker that killed taxi cab drivers. He was in Japan because he was currently wanted in the states for killing his abusive father but he was making his name known in these parts as the person to go to for the unexplained occurrences and troubled cases. Even a higher-up in the Japanese government called upon him to track down a serial killer. Men of Letters had a way of removing past indiscretions from someone's file. They tracked down Bobby and he agreed reluctantly to join. The offer to have the murder erased from his record was just too tempting. He also figured that once his record was clean he would be able to run if needed. Bobby ended up staying an extra two weeks in Japan to finish the case and then became a full Men of Letter. He denied their offer of help and said it was something he had to finish it by himself.

* * *

It was 1969 and John was 15 when he went on his first solo mission in Lawrence, Kansas. Henry had to stay behind because his wife was giving birth to his second child, a baby girl. This didn't happen in the first time and Henry was worried about what the change this will do to the timeline. The mission was to track and record the vampire clan movements. The Letters wanted to see if clans moved at the same pace. They were currently tracking three different vampire clans. Bobby was tracking one. He became close with the Winchesters and treated Johnny like a little brother. There was a spell that the elders shared that turned the user invisible to all creatures. The danger was minimum and he wasn't expected to do any fighting so Henry had no problem letting him go. John was dressed smartly in a navy blue suit white shirt with tie that was the standard uniform when on assignment. He had the legacy pin and ring on as well.

It was during one of his watches when he first saw her. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She clearly wasn't a vampire so her appearance here was suspicious. He also saw an older man non-vampire that appeared to be her father. He was currently giving her orders to separate and move around back. John knew that was where the head vampire was and grew worried for her safety. They were most likely hunters. Hunters always had a way to mess up even the best of plans. He had no way to communicate with headquarters the closest phone booth was miles away. He made the decision to follow her. He had enough weapons to defend himself if needed. He also could try to broker an armistice with them. Then the Men of Letters would surly be impressed.

He kept the spell of invisibility on while he spied on the actions of the young female. She was sneaking up on them and reached in her bag and took out a medieval looking weapon. She fired at one of the lesser vampires and that's when all hell broke loose. The head vampire ordered her death and immediately vampires were attacking. She knew she was outnumbered and tried to run for the exit but a vampire guard blocked her path. Giving up on the armistice idea John took out the vampire with his gun. It had a special wooden bullet and he aimed it to the heart for the kill. The gun was an invention of the Men of Letters. It even was dipped in dead man's blood that would work on the vampires in case the aim was off. John took out 5 of the vampires and the rest escaped. Mary was confused she couldn't see who was helping her if it was another hunter. Whoever it was saved her life and she didn't like that. She would owe him a favor and that could be dangerous depending on who it was. "Show yourself!" Mary tried to command but her voice was quivering. "Please?" She added.

Not being able to deny her John took off the spell of invisibility. "Hello" He said. Mary walked to his direction and gave him a hug. "Thanks for saving me," Mary said. She noticed he was about her own age. It was at that moment her father came in. Samuel looked over the vampires on the ground that seemed to be knocked out and took out took out his sword to decapitate them. The sword was a Klewang, the blade was long and thin but sharp. John was ready to put the spell for invisibility back on when Mary stopped him. "Wait! It's just my father Samuel." John hesitated but left the spell off. "What happened here? I heard your scream. By the time I was able to get here I saw 4 vampires including the head run out of the tent." "He shot wood bullets at the vampires and saved my life," Mary said. "Wooden bullets? You have to decapitate them to make sure there gone for good. What's your name kid?" "John Winchester sir. The gun is special made by my family." John said. "Do you know what direction they went?" John asked hoping to find their trail and salvage the mission. "You came here alone to kill the vampires." Samuel stated sounding impressed and ignoring the question. "No, just to learn from them the gun was a backup plan I have been tracking their movements for weeks." John sounded frustrated at the end. He did waste so much of his time and blew is cover the Men of Letters would not of approved. "Would you like a ride back to town?" Mary asked. John wanted to say yes but he had a mission to complete. "I need to stay here and find their trail. No thank you" Samuel thought for a moment. "I will be back to track them after I take Mary home. Will you be around?" He owed John a debt for saving Mary and hunters paid their debts. Samuel went back to the vampire lair but John wasn't there. He hoped the kid was all right but didn't dwell too much on it.

* * *

It was two years later when their paths would cross again. There was going to be a werewolf underground meeting going on. That was a hunters dream so many kills in one location. The Men of Letters set up the meeting. They built a very secure bunker so that those who wanted had a place to change and not hurt anyone had one. The werewolf's were spreading the word. There were guards at every corner and multiple false locations were made known. A new tonic was being developed by their British counterparts to reduce the effects of their transformation and they were waiting on the final completion before the trials of testing of its effectiveness can be started. Henry was standing guard at one of the pretend locations in Winchester, Kansas with a population of only 562 and a known hotspot for werewolf's to settle down. That's why it was a fictitious location and the elders are not without a sense of humor so sent Henry Winchester there. John was unable to come as he was transcribing Japanese books by hand it was a project for the Men of Letters and part of his final studies in school. It was at this time when Samuel tried to attack Henry with a silver knife trying to get into the meeting. Thinking Henry was a werewolf Mary's father attacked him. Henry had quicker reflexes and was able to remove the knife from his hand leading to a hand-to-hand combat. Samuel was able to grab the knife back when Henry got distracted when Samuel's partner Rufus appeared on the seen. Samuel stabbed Henry with the silver knife on his leg and Rufus held the gun on him. "Open the door," Rufus said to Henry. "You got the wrong place, Hunter," Henry said still winded from the fight yet was still able to make the word hunter sound like a curse word. "Who are you?" Samuel asked throwing holy water on Henry as Samuel held him down. "I am not a demon Campbell." Henry responded. "We will not ask again, who are you?" A young Rufus said punching him in the gut while he said that. Not seeing many options Henry turned to Samuel and responded, "I believe you met my son John about two years ago in a vampires nest. He saved your daughter Mary." Rufus exchanged looks with Samuel who simply nodded in his direction and lowered his gun. Henry knew who he was there was a separate division within the Letters to track hunters.

Rufus left for another hunt while Henry gave Samuel a ride to his home. Mary immediately went to work on stitching Henry's leg. "I graduated early from high school. I am in nursing school now." The 18 year old said.

Now how to get Johnny and Mary together? Henry thought. He had to make sure it happened to have any hope of Sam and Dean being born. He was sure they would make perfect Men of Letters. Sam especially but Dean could be trained he was just a little rough around the edges but he had to grow up faster being the oldest. His childhood ended when Mary died. Dean actually reminded him a lot of his father, Dean's grandfather. He had quite a reckless reputation with the Letters. "I am not hurting am I?" Mary asked. "Uh? no I barely feel anything," Henry replied still deep in thought. "You look a little dazed," Mary observed. "I should call John and give him an update. He'd be worried if I don't check in soon." He also had to contact the Men of Letters and let them know of the Campbell's finding one of their bogus locations. "Where is John?" Mary asked seeming interested. That's a good start Henry thought. "He is translating an ancient Japanese text for a new mission." Henry responded. "Do you mean another hunt?" Mary asked. "Yes, like a hunt," Henry replied kindly. Samuel came in with beers and handed one to Henry. Henry accepted the beer but didn't drink it. Men of Letters were not supposed to consume alcohol especially on a job. "You made him learn Japanese? Smart it's a bitch going through those old texts." "I didn't make him. He wanted to learn new languages." Samuel just hummed at that comment and turned on the football game. "You can use the phone in my study upstairs to contact your boy," and he turned to the television.

Henry thoughts drifted to the future again from the little he saw he didn't think that Samuel reminded him of either of his grandchildren. He was contemplating how he was suppose to go upstairs to the study on a leg that just had stitches when Mary showed up. She was strong from being a nurse and let him lean on her while she led him to the study. She pointed out where the bathroom was and left to get him something. He walked slowly to the desk chair and sat down. "Here is a cane if needed," she said. "Thank you. You know John couldn't stop talking about you after he came back. It was like he had a permanent smile on his face." Henry said. "Really? Your not just saying that to be nice?" Henry just shook his head. "I know he will jump at the chance to see you again." Mary left the room to give him privacy, although she wanted to stay and listen.

"Hey Johnny its Henry stop screening the call. You better have your homework done." Henry said. That was his code for him to let John know he is injured. "Dad what's wrong?" John answered sounding out of breath. "My position was compromised. I got stabbed," Henry summarized. "Are you going to still meet me on Blueberry Hill?" John inquired, a code meaning being held hostage. "No, can you pick me up? I am staying with hunters." "Hunters!" John said with disgust. The other Men talk about them as something to scrape off their shoe. John must have picked up on it. "You can't trust them. I am already on my way." John got the address and headed to the car. It would be about a long drive and that would mean Henry would have to stay the night. He got up and made is way to the front door and asked Mary where the nearest motel was. "We have a guest bed." Mary offered. "Usually reserved for fellow hunters." She led him to the room where he would spend the night.

* * *

Will John be angry with Mary for what her father did? Find out in the next chapter. This will be AU. It was hard finding out when Bobby was born I found a site that it was 5/4/1947 so I went based off that. John would have been born some time in 1954. Bobby lived in Japan but we didn't know why so I took liberties. He could have moved there after he killed his father. He didn't become a hunter until his wife died but I wanted him to be a Men of Letter with John. Let me know what you think in a review. Sorry for any grammar errors.

* * *

You're the ones who taught me that you can make your own destiny. You don't have to be ruled by fate. You can choose freedom. And I still believe that that's something worth fighting for. ~ Castiel


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: Thanks for the suggestions and reviews. I did go back and change a few things thanks to reviews. Funky town is now Blueberry Hill and Samuel decapitated the Vamps and I added an Abaddon part. Thanks to SkyHighFan for suggestions and looking this chapter over. This one is short it seemed like a good place to stop. The next one will be longer.

John drove as fast as he could to get to the Campbell house. He ran up to the house and rang the doorbell. Mary was at the door first and opened it.

"Hey John! Your father is upstairs," she said, happy to see him. "I stitched him up and his leg should be good as new in two weeks," she added a little concerned with the angry look on John's face.

"He would be fine if your father didn't stab him," John said angrily. "Hunters never think before they act." He added with a spiteful tone. He rushed up the stairs and called out, "Dad?"

"In here," Henry shouted. Henry got up without any help and put a smile on his face. John went up to him and hugged him. John was able to support him on the way downstairs.

Mary was in the kitchen cooking. "Would you like some breakfast? There's plenty," she said cheerfully Samuel was already in the kitchen eating.

"Sure would love some" Henry started to say. He had a pleasant smile on his face towards Mary.

"But we have to go to work Dad," John finished with a curt tone. "I don't want to eat with hunters, they're barbarians." John whispered the second part only for Henry ears. He didn't notice but even though she was across the room Mary did over hear them.

"I am sorry Mary but we cannot stay. Prior engagements that slipped my mind." Henry tried to recover diplomatically.

Mary still had her back turned to them so Henry couldn't judge the expression on her face, but her shoulders were hunched over in a tense position. "You know where the exit is. I am sure that you can let yourselves out," she spit out in a tone that Henry knew she was angry with them. Henry became worried about the effect this will have on the future. He will have to have a good long talk with Johnny on the way home.

"Good luck with your studies," Henry directed to Mary. "Thank you for your hospitality," he added somewhat sarcastically to Samuel's direction. The two left and headed in the direction of the car, John supporting most of Henry's weight along the way.

"You should have been nicer to them," Henry scolded. "We were their guests," Henry added getting in the passenger side.

John got in the driver's side then looked at him in disbelief and said, "They are just hunters. They stab first and ask questions later, they don't think about the consequence of their actions." He paused to take a breath. "There is nothing to like about them," he finished.

Henry thought for a minute. He thought along the same way about hunters not too long ago. When did he change? He thought back to when he met his grandsons Sam and Dean. Henry took a deep breath and said, "Hunters are not much different than us. They face the same monsters that we do and they save people while doing it. Their ways might be different and they might be a little rough around the edges but in the long run they are the same. The hunters of the future will be standing right beside us on the front line to stop the worst sort from happening."

"How do you know about the future?" John asked. Henry realized that telling the truth is the only way to get him to understand the difficult choices that lie ahead. "I visited the future when you were four and met your children and they are hunters, great hunters."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Here is the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews they motivate me to update faster. Let me know if you would like to see something added. Thanks to my Beta SkyHighFan for looking this over.

* * *

John was stunned quiet for the next few minutes not taking his eyes off the road and hand gripping the wheel. Henry decided to explain further. "Your children saved my life. Without them I wouldn't have been able to get myself back here." He left out the part where Dean wanted him to stay back and abandon his son to grow up alone so the future wouldn't change.

John found his voice and asked, "Who will their mother be?" In their line of work they do not question the seemingly impossible as nothing is truly impossible. Still then, he was unsure if he truly wanted to know. To know would mean that he has no options, no choice in the matter. To know would mean that fate would control his life from here on out. Then again he had something to look forward to too. Not one but he would have two sons. Men that would become fine hunters and if had anything to say about it, Men of Letters as well.

"Her name is Mary Campbell." John probably should not have been driving because the surprise caused him to slam on the breaks of the car. Luckily no one was behind him as it was early. He pulled to the shoulder to finish the conversation.

"That would explain why my sons were hunters," John said calmly. Then after a moment of silence, "Does that mean I wasn't… well alive?" He questioned.

"They did mention something about a demon killing you a few years prior," Henry responded carefully.

John was ready to drive back to see Mary and grovel at her feet but Henry convinced him to drive back to the headquarters. After all, he did have an incident report to fill out and John a project to finish. Henry was glad John took things well. It would have been disastrous if Johnny, for instance, decided not to pursue Mary. His grandsons would seek to exist and the future would have been a terrible place to live.

* * *

Unfortunately for John he would not get another chance with Mary until three years later during the beginning of 1973.

His friends had made a decision that if anyone of them got drafted, the others would enlist so they could go thru basic training together. So in 1971, when his friend Michael got drafte,d he joined the Echo 21 company to go with him. He had to finish his schooling early, but when he left, he took a book on Vietnamese also Tày, Mường, and Khmer. His school was able to provide these materials for him. They decided to make Vietnamese a requirement for the future male students before graduation and optional for female ones until the day the war would be over.

By the time basic training was over, John had become fluent in Vietnamese and conversational in the others. His superiors were very impressed by that and his hard work on the field and willingness to help others. One fellow trainee had trouble with taking his weapon apart and John stayed late with him, missing his own mealtime until he got it right. The next day the trainee was faster than everyone, except John. During the training, John decided to keep fit on his own and encouraged his bunkmates to join him. Soon he was leading all the boys in a daily fitness routine. He was determined to survive the war and make himself a stronger man to win Mary's heart.

Once he finished basic training, he left for Vietnam and quickly moved up in the ranks. His quick thinking was credited for saving the whole unit during a firefight that would earn him medals after the war. It was after a raid a few weeks later that John met Deacon. John was focused on the jungle waiting for the next attack that he almost stepped right on a mortar. Deacon saw the mortar but couldn't yell for him. One, it would give away their position, but also it was too noisy and he wouldn't hear in time. So Deacon charged at John and knocked him to the ground just as he was about to step on the mortar. John was about ready to fight thinking he was a Charley*, but stopped when he saw the uniform. Deacon pointed to the mortar and just then John realized he could have died. It was silly really. He was in the middle of a war, he could die any day. This was different, he really could have died this time and then his children wouldn't have been born. He thanked Deacon and they went on every mission together after that.

* * *

Henry missed his son terribly and counted down the days until his next letter. His daughter was five now and keeping him young by him chasing her around the house. He decided that for now at least he wouldn't introduce her to their world. He never told her a scary story, just those of princesses, fairies and dwarfs. He lost track of the Campbells and hoped they would be easy to track after John came home. The older Men of Letters recommended a spell that would summon Cupid. They too had worried about how time travel would affect their future. He might have saved that as a last measure. He still did missions for the Men of Letters, but he only took local missions so he wouldn't have to travel unless he could take his family.

* * *

The troop was on a top-secret mission in northern Vietnam in January of 1973 when the Montagnard (indigenous peoples of the Highlands of Vietnam) ambushed them and during that time, men were wounded badly. John shot the enemies with Deacon and together they carried the wounded from the battlefield. They went back three times for more survivors. It was on the last time he went back when a Montagnard came out of the jungle and shot John in the chest. He fell to the ground and while Deacon shot the Montagnard he passed out.

It was two days later and John was in the hospital. An older nurse was at his side, "It looks like our John Wayne is finally waking up." The older nurse said to the younger. John's face was bruised from when he fell but his eyes started to flutter open. John Wayne was an expression used to someone that continually risks his life because they liked danger. They usually showed up multiple times in the field nurses care and insisted on going back out to fight.

The young nurse came up to the older one she still has not looked at the patients face, "Do you have an id?" She asked. The older nurse picked up the man's chart "It says he is John Winchester" The nurse paused a second then rushed to John's side.

"John, it's me, Mary wake up," she commanded. Mary took the seat next to his bed and held his hand with one hand and stroked his cheek with the other. "Do you know him?" The elder nurse asked.

"Our paths have crossed before. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, now I know why." Mary answered her not taking her eyes off John. When Mary finished her nurse's degree, she had to go on a hunt overseas. While there, she heard about a shortage in field nurses. She felt it was her duty to enlist to help the men at war. She was worried about her father's safety during this time, but he was always able to take care of himself before. "John," she said again.

John grunted and turned his head. "My Angel," he said. He squeezed her hand and smiled at her. Then started to cough.

"Let me get you some water," She said and poured him a glass from the nearby pitcher. He greedily downed the whole glass and she poured him another. "Drink it more slowly," she advised. The older nurse left the room after updating his file.

"I am sorry how I behaved at your house. I was misinformed about hunters before." John said quickly.

"Who misinformed you?" She asked. Maybe going to war made him wiser or maybe it was because of whatever drugs they had given made him think unclear, but he broke the number one rule about the Men of Letter and told her everything about them. Including the rules they had to follow.

At the end of the explanation Mary replied, "Is that why you were such a blockhead? It explains a lot but doesn't excuse the bad behavior." John was too tired to speak and just nodded his head. "Get some rest," Mary said. She certainly wasn't going to forgive him right away, but there was not going to be any animosity towards him anymore.

* The US Military USES the "Phonetic Alphabet" on an everyday routine basis. Alpha, Bravo, Charley, Delta, Echo, Golf, Hotel, etc. This is used because over the radio, a letter "C" could sound like the letters "D", "E", "B", etc. Viet Cong (VC) were referred to as "Victor Charley", or "Charley" for short


End file.
